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From Pamela's Place
Brought to you by East Alabama Regional Planning Commission
Volunteering has healthy side-effects!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Many of you have heard me on Pamela's Place as well as on our Community Talk Shows with Eddy Reese and I as to how blessed we all can and will be by volunteering to help our Community and those in need. I love that blessed and accomplished feeling I get when I give to and help those in need of something.
A study by UnitedHealth Group and the Optum Institute found a link between volunteer work, giving of yourself, and better physical, mental and emotional health.
The study found that 76 percent of U.S. adults who volunteer report it has made them feel physically healthier, and 78 percent report that volunteering lowers their levels of stress, leading them to feel better than adults who do not volunteer.
Through the years, other studies have suggested that volunteer work increases self confidence, combats depression and could help people stay physically healthy, especially older adults.
Statistics show that volunteering can help people who experience daily-life stress or even more severe mental or physical problems.
Often, helping someone else stops a person from thinking about his own problems, and this can make the volunteer's problems feel diminished.
One way of helping people with, for instance, chronic pain is to recommend that they find a way to help others. Doing so helps the patient realize they are an active participant in the world, rather than feeling they nothing to give back.
It might be that they help someone else read who doesn't know how to read, or an older person who has lost their vision.
There are so many areas to give back. For those of you that share the love of animals with me, you can always volunteer at a local rescue or shelter, many can foster an animal until they find that special forever home. You can donate food, toys, cat litter and other pet supplies and cleaning supplies to these facilities as well.
Many of you may wish to help in a local homeless shelter such as one that I had on Pamela's Place this past Friday by name of "The Right Place". Homelessness among women and children in this area is on the rise, according to a survey by the Homeless Coalition of Northeast Alabama.
I would be glad to put you in touch with the necessary people in this wonderful organization. feel free to email me or call me at WDNG.
Contact leaders in our local community and enquire as to how and where you can help in various areas and organizations. Nationally, statistics show the largest proportion of people volunteering are young parents connected to their children through school, sports and other activities.
Another recent study linked volunteer work to increasing an unemployed person's chances of finding work.
By helping and giving of your time and of yourself, everyone wins! Please think about it!
Be Blessed!
Pamela Bates,
Operations manager,
Host of Pamela's Place,
Host of Weekend Outlook,
Co Host of Community Talk,
WDNG Media
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Keywords: Pamela's Place ,Community Talk ,volunteer work, animals ,local rescue or shelter,
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